A Detox Coffee, Please

Though coffee isn't a reliable hangover cure, it may help heavy drinkers anyway by protecting against long-term liver damage. Scientists asked 125,580 people about their intake of coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages, then tracked them for an average of 14 years. The risk of alcohol-related liver cirrhosis (which is usually irreversible) was reduced by 40 percent in those drinking one to three cups of coffee daily and by 80 percent in those drinking four or more cups. (Tea drinking had no connection, but that may be because heavy tea consumption was uncommon.) People who frequently drank alcohol and coffee were also less likely to have abnormal liver enzymes compared with alcohol drinkers who abstained from coffee. "The message should not be to drink alcohol as much as you want and protect yourself with coffee," cautions researcher Arthur Klatsky of Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, but this study adds to evidence that regularly indulging in coffee—up to three cups per day—is not harmful for most people and may even provide health benefits.